GEMS Correlations with the Georgia State Science Standards
Grade Level Expectations and Benchmarks for Science
for Eighth Grade
Earth Science
Return to Georgia State
Standards Page
Strand: Earth Science
1. Topic: Scientific Inquiry Process
Standard: Uses process skills of observing, classifying, communicating,
measuring, predicting, inferring, identifying, and manipulating variables.
Also uses skills of recording, analyzing and operationally defining,
formulating models, experimenting, constructing hypotheses and drawing
conclusions.
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Mystery
Festival, Crime Lab Chemistry, Fingerprinting, Hot Water and Warm Homes,
Microscopic Explorations, Moons of Jupiter, Of Cabbages and Chemistry,
Oobleck, Stories in Stone, Vitamin C Testing, Animals in Action, Bubble-ology,
Color Analyzers, Earth, Moon, & Stars, Environmental Detectives,
Mapping Animal Movements, Messages From Space, Paper Towel Testing,
Acid Rain, Chemical Reactions, Convection, Discovering Density, Dry
Ice Investigations, Earthworms, Experimenting With Model Rockets, Learning
About Learning, Mapping Fish Habitats, More Than Magnifiers, The Real
Reasons For Seasons, River Cutters, Global Warming, Ocean Currents,
Only One Ocean, Plate Tectonics
2. Topic: Safety Skills
Standard: Understands and applies laboratory safety rules and
practices.
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Mystery
Festival, Crime Lab Chemistry, Hot Water and Warm Homes, Microscopic
Explorations, Moons of Jupiter, Of Cabbages and Chemistry, Oobleck,
Stories in Stone, Vitamin C Testing, Animals in Action, Bubble-ology,
Color Analyzers, Earth, Moon, & Stars, Environmental Detectives,
Mapping Animal Movements, Messages From Space, Paper Towel Testing,
Acid Rain, Chemical Reactions, Convection, Discovering Density, Dry
Ice Investigations, Earthworms, Experimenting With Model Rockets, Mapping
Fish Habitats, More Than Magnifiers, River Cutters, Global Warming,
Ocean Currents, Only One Ocean, Plate Tectonics
3. Standard International (SI) Measurements (Metric System)
Standard: Defines and identifies standards of measurement.
3.1 Names the prefixes used in the SI system.
3.2 Identifies SI units and symbols for length, volume, mass, density,
time, and temperature.
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Bubble-ology,
Plate Tectonics, Vitamin C Testing
3.3 Converts measurements among related SI units.
3.4 Uses appropriate tools for determining mass volume, temperature,
density, and length.
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Hot Water
and Warm Homes, Moons of Jupiter, Of Cabbages and Chemistry, Vitamin
C Testing, Bubble-ology, Environmental Detectives, Messages From Space,
Paper Towel Testing, Acid Rain, Chemical Reactions, Discovering Density,
Dry Ice Investigations, Earthworms, Experimenting With Model Rockets,
More Than Magnifiers, The Real Reasons For Seasons, River Cutters, Global
Warming, Ocean Currents, Only One Ocean, Plate Tectonics
4. Reference Skills
Standard: Selects and uses multiple types of print and nonprint
sources for information on science concepts.
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Mystery
Festival, Crime Lab Chemistry, Fingerprinting, Hot Water and Warm Homes,
Microscopic Explorations, Moons of Jupiter, Of Cabbages and Chemistry,
Oobleck, Stories in Stone, Vitamin C Testing, Animals in Action, Bubble-ology,
Color Analyzers, Earth, Moon, & Stars, Environmental Detectives,
Mapping Animal Movements, Messages From Space, Paper Towel Testing,
Acid Rain, Chemical Reactions, Convection, Discovering Density, Dry
Ice Investigations, Earthworms, Experimenting With Model Rockets, Learning
About Learning, Mapping Fish Habitats, More Than Magnifiers, The Real
Reasons For Seasons, River Cutters, Global Warming, Ocean Currents,
Only One Ocean, Plate Tectonics
5. Human Interactions with the Environment
Standard: Recognizes the effects human beings have on pollution and
the environment.
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Hot Water
and Warm Homes, Environmental Detectives, Acid Rain, Learning About
Learning, River Cutters, Global Warming, Ocean Currents, Only One Ocean
5.1 Identifies ways human beings cause and can correct pollution of
water bodies, the atmosphere (acid rain, ozone layer, and greenhouse
effect) and the land (soil pollution, and chemical/nuclear waste).
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Hot Water
and Warm Homes, Environmental Detectives, Acid Rain, River Cutters,
Global Warming, Ocean Currents, Only One Ocean
5.2 Examines the effects pollution from cities have on weather and the
effect of burning fuels on the atmosphere, melting of polar ice caps,
and predicting earthquakes.
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Acid
Rain, Global Warming, Ocean Currents
6. Geology
Standard: Differentiates among elements, compounds and mixtures.
6.1 Describes the organization or the modern periodic table.
6.1 Recognizes common chemical symbols and chemical formulas.
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Chemical
Reactions, Dry Ice Investigations, Global
Warming
6.3 Recognizes crystal systems of minerals.
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Microscopic
Explorations, Stories in Stone, Plate Tectonics
7. Geology
Standard: Identifies minerals by physical properties such as hardness,
shape, color, lustre, streak, cleavage and fracture.
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Stories
in Stone
7.1 Uses standard mineral identification tests to identify minerals
and their characteristics from unnamed samples.
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Stories
in Stone
8. Geology
Standard: Differentiates among rocks based on origins (igneous,
metamorphic, and sedimentary) and mineral content.
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Stories
in Stone, Plate Tectonics
9. Geology
Standard: Recognizes that constructive and destructive Earth forces
(e.g., continental drift, earthquakes, volcanoes, plate tectonics, weathering,
and erosion) change the Earth's surface.
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Stories
in Stone, Convection, River Cutters, Plate Tectonics
10. Geology
Standard: Recognizes major symbols, series, scales and colors conventionally
used to represent features on topographic maps and various Earth models.
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Plate
Tectonics
11. Geology
Standard: Examines how land formations influence development of an area.
11.1 Relates the topography of land, climate and resources to economic
development.
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Environmental
Detectives, River Cutters, Global Warming
12. Geology
Standard: Recognizes the use of alternate energy sources.
12.1 Identifies examples of solar energy being used (solar heating in
buildings, solar cells in calculators and solar battery automobiles).
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Hot Water
and Warm Homes
12.2 Identifies other alternative energy sources (geothermal, wind,
nuclear, synthetic fuels and biomass fuels).
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Environmental
Detectives, Acid Rain, Global Warming
13. Geology
Standard: Describes Earth history and recognizes that change occurs
constantly and slowly over time.
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: River
Cutters, Global Warming, Plate Tectonics
15. Geology
Standard: Illustrates and describes the Earth's composition (crust,
mantle, and core).
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Stories
in Stone, Convection, River Cutters, Plate Tectonics
16. Hydrology
Standard: Describes the water cycle and its relationship to the
movement of surface and subsurface water.
16.1 Identifies parts of the water cycle.
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Acid
Rain, River Cutters
16.2 Describes the formation of a river system.
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: River
Cutters
16.3 Describes the distribution and quality of fresh water on the Earth.
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Only
One Ocean, Ocean Currents
17. Hydrology
Standard: Describes the characteristics, composition and movement
of the oceans.
17.1 Recognizes the chemical and physical composition of ocean water.
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Ocean
Currents, Only One Ocean
17.2 Describes the features of the ocean floor.
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Ocean
Currents
17.3 Discusses the movements of ocean water in currents, tides and waves.
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Ocean
Currents, Only One Ocean
17.4 Identifies the three groups of ocean life
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Ocean
Currents, Only One Ocean
17.5 Describes the relationships among ocean organisms.
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Only
One Ocean, Ocean Currents, Only One Ocean
18. Meteorology
Standard: Describes the composition and structure of Earth’s
atmosphere.
18.1 Identifies the layers of the earth’s atmosphere.
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Global
Warming
18.2 Describes the importance of each layer of the Earth’s atmosphere.
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Global
Warming
18.3 Lists the most abundant gases in the Earth’s atmosphere.
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Global
Warming
19. Meteorology
Standard: Recognizes and investigates weather phenomena and their
effect on the Earth's surface.
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Ocean
Currents
19.1 Interprets weather maps and makes forecasts.
20. Meteorology
Standard: Describes atmospheric factors which interact to cause
weather: heat energy, air pressure, winds, and moisture.
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Ocean
Currents
20.1 Identifies the three basic types of clouds and their formation.
20.2 Compares the four major types of air masses and how they create
fronts that affect weather patterns.
20.3 Identifies factors that determine climate.
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Convection,
Global Warming, Ocean Currents
20.4 Differentiates between the climate zones of the Earth
20.5 Defines and gives examples of microclimates.
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Convection
21. Astronomy
Standard: Describes the components of the solar system.
21.1 Describes features, characteristics and motions of the planets.
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Moons
of Jupiter, Messages From Space, The Real
Reasons For Seasons
21.2 Compares and contrasts asteroids, comets and meteorites and explain
their origins.
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Messages
From Space
22. Astronomy
Standard: Identifies and describes stars and star systems.
22.1 Describes major galaxy types.
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Messages
From Space
22.2 Describes the life cycle of a star.
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Messages
From Space
23. Astronomy
Standard: Compares and contrasts theories on the origin of the universe.
23.1 Discusses geocentric and heliocentric models of the solar system.
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Moons
of Jupiter
24. Astronomy
Standard: Describes how information is obtained about space.
24.1 Identifies the use of probes, satellites, light and radio telescopes
and spectroscopes to gather information about space.
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Moons
of Jupiter, Messages From Space, The Real Reasons For Seasons
25. Astronomy
Standard: Describes the history of the space program and examines its
effects on our lives.
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Oobleck,
Messages From Space, The Real Reasons For Seasons
26. Astronomy
Standard: Describes the relationships of the motions between the
sun, moon and Earth.
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Earth,
Moon, & Stars, The Real Reasons For Seasons
26.1 Describes how seasons are caused by the Earth’s revolution.
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: The Real
Reasons For Seasons
26.2 Defines the phases of the moon.
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Earth,
Moon, & Stars
26.3 Compares and contrasts a lunar and solar eclipse.
Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Earth,
Moon, & Stars
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